Field of the Invention
This invention relates to marking devices or imprinters, and is more particularly concerned with a hot ink imprinter with swinging print head, especially adapted for imprinting marks on workpieces advanced in stop and go fashion.
Imprinters are used in industry for imprinting indicia on work pieces such as bag making material in strip form, and the like. For workpieces that travel continuously, rotary head imprinters have been developed. For workpieces that travel in a stop and go fashion, such as bag making material in connection with bag filling equipment, imprinters with stamping type print heads utilizing inked ribbon or transfer tape have been developed. Printers utilizing stamp pads or ink cartridges have also been developed.
Rotary head imprinters desirably utilize inking rolls impregnated with pigment or ink that is heat softenable and which will herein be referred to generically as "ink". Type carried by the rotary print head roll contacts the inking roll in each revolution of the print head for ink transfer onto the type faces. Such inking rolls have the advantage that they are usually mounted in a quick-release fashion for quick replacement or exchange as required and are especially advantageous, as compared to inked ribbon or transfer tape marking, because of the ease and speed with which changes can be made for such purposes as ink replenishment, ink color changes, and the like.